A mental health appointment. Source: Pexels
Government MP Josh Burns is urging his own party to reconsider their position of halving Medicare subsidised mental health appointments.
This is a response to the Health Minister Mark Butler announcing the government’s plan to cut the already existing 20 subsidised sessions down to 10 per year.
The sessions available to Australians through Medicare subsidies doubled in August 2020, largely in response to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on people’s mental health.
Federal MP Josh Burns does not agree with his party’s decision saying that “whilst there are real challenges in managing access to services, the answer is not to reduce support for those who need it.
“For those people who require more than ten sessions of Medicare funded mental healthcare, the extra sessions can be the difference between someone’s anxiety increasing or being effectively managed,” he said in a Twitter post.
“It can be the difference between everyday functioning – participating with family, friends, at school or work – or not coping at all.”
Chief Executive of Suicide Prevention Australia Nieves Murray expressed her concerns with the policy choice.
“The decision to remove extra mental health supports at a time when interest rates are rising, housing pressure is growing and distress is high is baffling and very concerning,” Murray said.
“While we support any changes to improve the Better Access program it makes no sense to turn off additional supports before those changes are developed.”
Senior Lecturer at Deakin University and practicing clinical psychologist David John Hallford does not believe this policy is a step in the right direction.
“Ten sessions won’t provide adequate treatment for many suffering from mental ill-health. And waiting until the next calendar year for the next ten sessions could see symptoms spiral in the meantime,” Dr Hallford said.
He also made the point that Australians would be unlikely to accept this decision if it related to another form of medical care, saying, “Australians would not be satisfied being prescribed half-courses of medicines. Nor would they be satisfied if bandages or casts were removed before wounds or breaks were healed.”
